1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cartridge library apparatus for housing recording media in a plurality of cartridges and selecting a specified cartridge from the cartridges to perform read/write processing of information recorded in the cartridge.
2. Description of the Related Art
The aforementioned cartridge library apparatus has been developed for housing a plurality of removable storage media to facilitate addition and update of stored information in response to a demand for a significant increase in storage capacity associated with improved performance of computers. The apparatus has a housing portion for housing a plurality of removable storage media such as magnetic tape cartridges or optical disk cartridges in which a specified storage medium of the storage media is automatically unloaded and loaded to a read/write portion for processing stored information.
A plurality of cartridges housed in the housing portion are individually designated identification numbers such as predetermined bar codes. When a specific cartridge is to be selected, a hand robot provided in a body of the apparatus is manipulated such that an end of the hand robot irradiates laser light to read an identification number with a sensor for selecting the specified cartridge.
Typically, an operator performs loading/unloading of and changeover to a replacement cartridge in such a cartridge library apparatus as required. Since such loading/unloading operations of a cartridge by an operator may cause an accidental fall of the cartridge into the apparatus body, measures have been conventionally taken to prevent such a fall.
For example, JP-A-5-128683 discloses a technique in which, as shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, gear 52 for a driving motor is disposed in a central portion of housing rack 50 such that rack 53 and rack 54 mounted respectively to L-shaped shutters 51 and 55 are engaged with gear 52 in an opposite positional relationship.
When an operator is to load or unload cartridge W in housing rack 50 for operation, the operator rotates gear 52 for a driving motor clockwise immediately before the operation to move shutter 51 and shutter 55 mounted to rack 53 and rack 54 to a position at which the shutters partially cover cartridge W as shown in FIG. 2, thereby preventing cartridge W from falling into the apparatus body.
In the aforementioned prior art, however, shutters 51 and 55 do not entirely cover the housing rack when an operator performs loading/unloading operations of a medium. This leaves problems where, for example, a foreign matter such as a tool falls into the housing rack or laser light irradiated by a hand robot is not blocked but applied directly to the operator since the interior of the apparatus body is exposed at a gap which is not covered with the shutters.
The present invention is made in view of such conventional problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a cartridge library apparatus capable of preventing a cartridge from falling and of preventing laser light from leaking and radiating outside when a cartridge is loaded/unloaded.
A cartridge library apparatus according to the present invention is characterized in that it has cells for individually containing a plurality of cartridges in an inner surface of a door mounted openably to an apparatus body, and the apparatus body is provided with a shutter for covering the entire surface of an opening portion of the apparatus body when the door is open and a driving mechanism for driving the opening and closing of the shutter.
The apparatus is provided with a shutter closure detecting sensor on the apparatus body side for detecting the closure of the shutter and a lock mechanism of the door provided on the door side for unlocking the door on the basis of a detection signal from the shutter closure detecting sensor.
Preferably, the shutter comprises a plurality of shutter brackets in planar plate shape and hinges for swingably coupling the respective plates of the plurality of shutter brackets, and a guide rail is provided along the opening portion of the apparatus body for linearly guiding these shutter brackets.
The driving mechanism preferably comprises a rotor to which one end portion of the shutter is swingably coupled for taking up the shutter and for pushing out the shutter along the guide rail, and a motor for rotating the rotor.
The apparatus having such a driving mechanism is preferably provided with a friction clutch between the rotor and the motor.
Additionally, a cam is preferably provided in a side portion of the rotor for guiding the shutter brackets to be taken up around the rotor toward the guide rail.
Each of the shutter brackets is preferably provided with a roller for rolling on the guide rail.
A freely running belt to be contacted by the roller is preferably stretched with a plurality of pulleys between the guide rail and the cam.
With the configuration as described above, the cartridge library apparatus according to the present invention produces the following favorable effects.
First, since the shutter covers the entire surface of the opening portion of the library apparatus body in response to the opening of the door, it is possible to prevent laser light for reading identification codes from radiating outside, allowing the protection of an operator.
Additionally, a cartridge which is to exit from the cell impinges on the shutter and is pushed back into the cell, thereby making it possible to prevent the cartridge from falling into the apparatus body. For this reason, when an operator loads a cartridge into the cell provided in the door, a fall of the cartridge into the apparatus body can be prevented even if the operator closes the door in a state where the cartridge is partially out of the cell.
Furthermore, the shutter is mounted vertically and taken up for housing, thereby allowing the mounting area of the shutter to have the same area as that of all the loaded media.
The above and other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description referring to the accompanying drawings which illustrates an example of a preferred embodiment of the present invention.